B school selection help

[shrikantbhaiya]

Dear Instructor,
I am Shrikant from India. I have completed my degree in engineering & technology (Mechanical) in 2008 and worked for a reputed organization (manufacturing company) in India for 2 years. I was in Procurement department with my responsibility being to procure Automation assembly for internal process improvement projects. This has tested mainly my technical knowledge, costing knowledge, planning, negotiation skills etc.
I have done descent in my degree academics. However, I have done a lot of extracurricular activity including sports, college events (participation as well as organizing), college group’s participation, and technical competitions. However in those two events were most important.
1) All terrain vehicle making competition in which we made a four wheeler like rally cars and also participated in different racing competitions (won national prices).
2) Surveyed effectiveness of a plan implemented by Electricity board in our region to save electricity. This event was different from all others as this has tested numerous skills from communication to analytical.

I want to take admission at US for full time MBA programme. However, I am confused on B school selection. Can you please tell me some of B schools from US where I should think about applying considering my profile and GMAT score of 720.


Regards,
Shrikant

[mbamission]

Hi Shrikant,

Thanks for writing in. Selecting which business schools to apply to is a very personal decision and I can't give a recommendation simply based on your GMAT. You'll want to consider geography, class size, academic specialty, career placement and job prospects, among other factor, in your decision. On face value a 720 should be high enough to make your GMAT competitive at just about any U.S. school. Still you'll want to consider that two years is below the median work experience, and most of your extracurricular work was in college, which the schools tend to not give much weight to.

I would suggest focusing mostly on the top-15 to top-25 range of schools. You may also want to dedicate part of your essay to your electricity project -- which sounds really interesting -- as well as explaining why you are seeking an MBA right now.

Good luck!
Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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[shrikantbhaiya]

Hi,

Thanks Daniel for your very important suggestion. I have some questions.
Is my work experience in numbers a major blocking block for me while applying to good B schools?
What other extracurricular do the B schools look for? I have written my extracurricular from my college work is because I thought that these are what B schools look for.

I am also looking for return on my investment time while applying to US B schools.
What other factors should I consider? Of course the exposure and faculty are also the factors which I am considering.

Your suggestions are very important for me.

Thanks & Regards,
Shrikant

[shrikantbhaiya]

Hi,

Thanks Daniel for your very important suggestion. I have some questions.
Is my work experience in numbers a major blocking block for me while applying to good B schools?
What other extracurricular do the B schools look for? I have written my extracurricular from my college work is because I thought that these are what B schools look for.

I am also looking for return on my investment time while applying to US B schools.
What other factors should I consider? Of course the exposure and faculty are also the factors which I am considering.

Your suggestions are very important for me.

Thanks & Regards,
Shrikant

[mbamission]

Hi Shrikant,

While MBA programs want to know that you can handle graduate level quantitative work, they also want to see that you are well-rounded and not strictly a "numbers" person. To show that you want to have a balanced GMAT score (ideally above 80% in both verbal and quant), and also show that even though your job may be numbers-based, that you also have good communication and leadership skills.

Typically schools want to see extracurricular involvement in your community since college. This could be volunteer work, serving on a nonprofit board of directors, community activism, etc. Since you are only two years out of college you can list some of your college activity, but just keep in mind the schools will want to know that you have continued to be active since graduating.

The ROI on an MBA is of course important, but also specific to the individual. I suggest looking at the post-graduation median salaries for the industries you are interested in at your target schools (career services office can provide this), and also making sure you consider the opportunity cost of not working for two years.

Good luck!

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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[shrikantbhaiya]

Thanks Daniel,

Where can I find the data about top 25 b schools in US. Data inclusive of Avg Salary, courses, admission fees etc.
If you know please.


Regards,
Shrikant

[mbamission]

Hi Shrikant,

Business Week, Financial Times, US News and World Report are all good sources for this type of information.

[shrikantbhaiya]

Hi Daniel,

Gave GMAT today. Got 710 and not targeted 720.
Eng : 78%tile and Maths : 86%tile and overall 92%tile.

I have sent the score to following 5 colleges.
1] Indian School of business.
2] Insead, France
3] Duke University : fuqua B school
4] New York University : Stern
5] Oxford University : Said.

I know as you said its personal choice to select b school, however I need your help. Out of these which colleges should I target considering my profile. which of these colleges can give a call to a person of my profile. I read that call from stern to the profile like me is difficult. What is your opinion sir.

Your opinion is valuable to me.


Regards,
Shrikant

[mbamission]

Hi Shrikant,

Your GMAT is in range for those schools, but I worry about your ability to differentiate yourself from the overrepresented male Indian engineer cohort. You'll want to try and stand out however you can -- such as with your story on the electric grid project. I don't believe you mentioned what your post-MBA plans, which is also a potential differentiating point.

With limited information, I think Indian School of Business is a viable option, and Oxford and Duke could also be more receptive to your profile.

Good luck!
Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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[shrikantbhaiya]

Thanks Daniel,

This will help me. Can you give me the names of B schools fitting my profile. So that I can read about those and try and find out information. I want to do my MBA in general management and/or Entrepreneurship.


Regards,
Shrikant

[mbamission]

Hi Shrikant,

At this stage I think we've exhausted how effective I can be over a message board. If you're looking for further insight you may want to set up a free 30-minute consultation with MBA Mission. You can register for that at : http://mbamission.com/consult.php